Sunday, December 31, 2006

Rose that Never Bloomed

This newly released Holocaust diary is not yet translated to English, but here's a touching summary:



by Leah Abramowitz
A recently published Holocaust diary that wavers between hope and despair.


Sixty-two years is a long time to wait to publicize the dramatic, tragic death of one's beloved sister. Yet Edith Jakobs Samuel couldn't bring herself to do so until her own 80th birthday, when she published Rose Jakobs' 132-page diary, written throughout the war years in Dutch. (The diary has been subsequently translated into Hebrew and an English version is in the works.)
The book, entitled The Rose That Never Blossomed, describes how their father, Aaron Jakobs, a German Jewish businessman, had the fortitude to move to Holland with his wife and four children in l938 before the war broke out. Unfortunately the Nazi regime quickly caught up with them, and Germany captured Holland shortly thereafter.
Jakobs found hiding places for his family in several villages, but the six members were not always together. Rose, the eldest daughter, and her twin brother, Martin, spent some time alone under terrible circumstances, in constant danger of being reported to the authorities by their hosts seduced by the monetary reward for handing over Jews. She started writing her diary in August 1942 as a means of coping and to describe how much she missed her other family members.
On September 30, 1942, the then l7-year-old teenager writes: "I wish I could write everything in this diary, what I really feel and think. Right now the only thing I will write is that for someone who is not used to being locked up, it is very, very difficult to be dependent on others." Rose had been a fun-loving, active student in Amsterdam. She had many friends, and excelled in sewing, handicrafts and many other fields. The family members were very close, but the two sisters, Rose and Edith (who was 15 at the time they went into hiding), were inseparable. There was also a younger brother, Berti, aged eight.
The diary is an emotional report of a young woman who wavered between despair and hope; who had to stay in closed quarters, without making any noise and without knowing anything about her loved ones. She longed passionately to be free.
The Jakobs were reunited only in November l943 when Aaron found quarters with a farmer in the village of Beek for all six of them. "I finally came to stay with papa and mama," she writes happily on November 2, l943. "They received me with so much love and happiness."
"What is terrible is that last night almost all the Jews that we knew, except for 23 families, were rounded up and herded into trains like cattle."
By then the tides of the war were changing. In some of her entries we learn how Rose and her family lived in hopes of an Allied invasion, but were often thrown into despondence as the Germans rallied and continued their search for Jews, even as they fought a war on two fronts. On November 18, 1942 she wrote: "We have to stay in bed today, the whole day, because downstairs they have company. But I do not think that this is the worst. What is terrible is that last night almost all the Jews that we knew, except for 23 families, were rounded up and herded into trains like cattle."
The conditions of their confinement were most difficult. They couldn't go out, they were dependent on their hosts for food and water, and sometimes had to go without for two or three days at a time. To pass the time Rose would teach Edith what she remembered from her schooling, and Edith in turn, would teach her little brother geography, history and arithmetic. Their parents tried also to keep their spirits up, but they were themselves under great pressure. Like the well known diary of Anne Frank, we get glimpses of the tension and minor flare ups that are caused when people live in close proximity with nothing to do over a long period.
At one time the daughter of the farmer who put them up gave birth to a son. During the period that a nurse came for the birth and to care for the newborn, the Jakobs couldn't walk around upstairs in the attic or talk. They couldn't use the bathroom and they had nothing to eat for four days. Nevertheless Rose confided in Edith, "We have to be happy with what we have. We must appreciate that we're alive and together."
The longed for day finally came. On September l7, l944 American soldiers from the Second Airborne Division parachuted by the hundreds into the area of northern Holland where they were hiding. "Our younger brother cried, 'Angels are dropping out of the sky to save us'." Heavy fighting broke out in their village. There was house to house fighting between the Germans and the Americans. The house where the Jakobs were hiding was bombarded and the farmer's family fled. They, too, left and entered the cellar of a nearby house that was empty. But there was no food.
Edith Samuel describes their family's situation. "We had no papers. We were all pale as ghosts. My sister and I decided to leave our hiding place and help some of the American soldiers who were wounded. Their field clinic was right across the street. We were also very hungry." The Americans were happy to have the two sisters' help. One of the Jewish soldiers even informed them that September 27th was Yom Kippur. They had lost all track of time.
Then tragedy struck. "On October 2nd, l944, as we were crossing the street to the clinic, a shell fell right in front of us. I couldn't find Rose at first. She was thrown a few meters away. I ran over to her and saw she was badly wounded. An American army doctor said sadly, 'I'm afraid it's too late!' It didn't make sense to me. To be in hiding for over two years and then when we were about to be liberated, to die!"
Edith sat next to her sister all night long, saying Shema Yisrael and any other prayer that she could remember, but Rose never opened her eyes.
Edith sat next to her sister all night long, saying Shema Yisrael and any other prayer that she could remember, but Rose never opened her eyes.
Her parents never recovered from the ordeal and the terrible loss of their eldest daughter. "My mother turned into a zombie, and I had to take care of her just as the war was finally ending," says Edith. Rose was l9 years old when she died, and Edith was l7. In her entry on May 3, l944, Rose had apparently been in one of her low moods as she wrote, "Today is my birthday. For my birthday I wish for a bomb, because I do not think there will be peace. I feel like crying."
Rose was buried in the forest next to the village of Beek. The family later organized a memorial service and reburied her in the Jewish cemetery in Nijmegen. Edith married Benny Samuel in 1949 and had seven children, the oldest of whom is named Shoshana (Rose). In l969 the whole Samuel family moved to Israel where they all live today. Martin stayed in Holland where he raised a family, and Berti, the younger brother, moved to California and also has a wife and children.
"I knew that Rose's diary would be of interest to many other people, but it took me 62 years to actually publicize it," says Edith. The book was read widely in Holland, and the Museum of Liberation in Neebegan asked to do an exhibit based on Rose's story and diary. Edith and her brothers agreed. The opening was held in October this year. Many members of her family from all over the world attended, including Berti, some of Edith's children, and the offspring of the farmer who put them up in Beek, including the baby whose birth put them in to quarantine for four days. They have maintained contact with them all these years.
"It was very emotional for me," says Edith, mentioning the panels and blown up pictures of her sister that she saw at the tastefully arranged exhibit.
Rose flowers again, albeit fleetingly, after 62 years.
Published: Sunday, December 31, 2006

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Pretty Packages

Perched among the gifts, Kylie and Luke are anxious to get started unwrapping. Kylie was overheard to say to Luke, "If you need help opening your 'presidents,' I'll help you."

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

The Present My Coonhound Gave Me

I was surprised to find this mud-wrapped gift by Rosi's dog dish Saturday evening. How nice of her to "dig" this up for me! It's a 1902 Barber O-series dime. It's not in really good condition, but would bring a "pretty penny" on Ebay.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Friday, December 08, 2006

Wise Men Still Seek Him

Wise men still seek him by John Fischer
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.” (Proverbs 25:2 NIV)
I normally don’t like bumper stickers, especially with Christian slogans, because they so often seem to trivialize the message, but one exception stands out. It used to show up around Christmastime, though I haven’t seen it for a while. It is the simple but profound assertion: WISE MEN STILL SEEK HIM.
I like this because it says at least two things. First, those who seek God are wise. God affirms the dignity of the searcher and the search. The fact that God has set it up this way – has concealed his matters and invited us to search for him – confirms our nobility. It says we have enough smarts to look for him and recognize him when we find him. In fact, the proverb above puts the searcher in the realm of kings. It’s a noble task to seek after God.
Second, those who seek God are given the benefit of the doubt, that if they seek him, they will find him.This is actually a promise in Scripture: “He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV) This is why those of us who already know him don’t have to jump all over those who are seeking when they get something wrong or don’t put it in exactly the right words. If they are truly seeking, they will find him, and it will be God who opens their eyes anyway. We need to respect the search of those we know who are seeking and not get impatient with them or think of them as stupid for not seeing what we see. When it’s time, they will.
This may mean you might have to bite your tongue a little bit and not say everything you know all the time. Better to listen for those parts of the truth the seeker has already found and affirm them. Jesus didn’t spill all the beans as soon as he started preaching. He let a little bit out at a time. He talked in code (parables). He asked a lot of questions. He protected the search. He didn’t give what was sacred to dogs or throw out pearls to pigs. He always said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” and then he went on to not say everything. He made them hang on his words and come back for more. All of this protects not only the dignity of the search and the searcher, but also the dignity of the truth.
It really should be this way; otherwise, we could just put it all on a bumper sticker.

Thursday, December 07, 2006

To the Third and Fourth Generation

This article from Dr. Mercola supports the theories I have been developing about nutrition and genetics. I usually post health articles to my wellness blog--Wel-life.org--but feel this is also relevant to genealogy. I hope to soon have genealogy site, also.

You Are What Your Grandmother Ate

You may have read already about the research showing that the diet of a mother can have an influence on a specific gene for at least two generations.
This study on mice looks at "epigenetic" changes made to DNA, involving genes that can be silenced or activated based on exposure to chemicals.
Half of the mice in the study were fed a nutrient-enriched diet, while the control group ate a standard diet. Exposure to those high amounts of nutrients in the womb changed the coats of the mice offspring from golden to dark brown fur, while the offspring of the control group remained unchanged.Not only that, but the children of the darker-coated mice were similarly affected; they also had dark brown fur.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences November 14, 2006; 103(46): 17308-17312

Dr. Mercola's Comment:
When I was actively seeing patients it was very clear what my primary responsibility was -- to teach my patients to eat the way their ancestors ate. If I could facilitate that change alone and have them avoid processed foods, trans fats and the ridiculous excess of omega-6 fats nearly all consume, the vast majority of them would have radically improved health.
However, this information should not cause you to worry about the diets of ancestors. First of all, it is likely that they were eating far healthier than you, but even if they weren't your body has incredible, dynamic healing capacities that have the potential to reverse much of the damage.
Mirto from Carnation, Alabama commented in Vital Votes:
"There is way too much emphasis placed on such things as blaming our condition on the fact it runs in the family (genes). What runs in the family is an eating pattern that has been passed down from generation to generation.
"I saw it in my family and was heading down a road that was the consequence of this. I drastically changed my diet, including taking supplements, and no longer have to take any drugs, including aspirins.
"When you see a number of members of a family being overweight, check what kind of food they eat, it's appalling. The cook or cooks of the house usually picked up the style from their mother, who picked it up from her mother and so on. First of all that's a problem right there. You would be much healthier eating at least 75% of your food raw, which I usually do ... "
As far as genes go, I firmly believe that conventional wisdom imputes to them a far more exaggerated influence on your health than they really have. Fact is, genes are little more than information storage facilities that don't do much to influence your health. Rather, it's the expression of your genes, influenced by how you live your life, that weighs far more heavily on your health than anything else.
Dr. Gene Weber from Yakima, Washington also pointed out regarding that issue:
"When we go to the doctor a lot of the time, genetics are used against us to force the issue for prescribing what I feel are unneeded drugs, many for long term.
"There was a study done by Dr. Pottenger more than 60 years ago known as Pottenger's Cats that basically helps explain how we are what we eat, and how we can change our 'genetic' outcome by improving our lifestyle. This of course involves diet, exercise, and our emotional state to name a few. We need to know these things so we can make better choices when it comes to health care

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Murder of the Innocent

This post is from CitizenLink.org. How many of these murders never make the press? Will anyone be prosecuted?

Autopsy Confirms Florida Baby Delivered at an Abortion Clinic was Born Alive
An autopsy report concerning a baby who was born at an abortion clinic confirmed that the baby was born alive, according to Operation Rescue (OR).
It's unclear whether that determination will affect any criminal proceedings.
An 18-year-old woman who was 22 weeks pregnant went to A Gyn Diagnostics, near Miami, for an abortion. She came back the next day complaining of severe pain and was placed in an recovery room to await the doctor's arrival. Instead she gave birth to a baby girl. The baby was allegedly placed in a plastic bag and thrown on the roof of the clinic, where she was discovered a week later.
Troy Newman, president of OR, said the girl deserved to receive medial attention.
"Once she was born, she was deserving of the same protections under the law as the rest of us," he said. "At the minimum, she should have been given comfort care."

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Stars of the Show

Here are the kids again--with their boxer, "Soapie," otherwise known as Sophie. Posted by Picasa

Friday, December 01, 2006

Blowing Away

 Posted by Picasa

Christmas--It's OK to say it!

Christmas Project™Merry Christmas. It's okay to say it
Visit www.saychristmas.org to order your Christmas package today!


Comments

Christmas is a cherished time of year when Americans come together and celebrate something bigger than ourselves, something that has united us for generations. An event that is the center of all history—the birth of Jesus Christ. Surveys show that 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas. Yet, due to political correctness, disinformation, and even the threat of lawsuits from the ACLU and its allies, religious expression at Christmastime is increasingly absent from the public square. Slowly, this holy day is being turned into a secular “solstice season.” The Alliance Defense Fund works year-round to preserve and protect our religious liberties, including the right to… ...sing Christmas carols at school ...pass out candy canes to classmates ...call it “Christmas vacation” ...sponsor a nativity scene on public property ...say “Merry Christmas” ADF wants all Americans to know the Truth—that they have the freedom to celebrate Christmas publicly, joyfully, and without fear—for generations to come! We are launching our annual national Christmas Project™ to spread the message, “Merry Christmas. It’s okay to say it.” Will you join with us?